Comet 67P formed in impact?

The unusual shape of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as recorded by the Rosetta mission, has led to much speculation about its origins. A simulation published in March 2018 in Nature Astronomy suggests that the comet could have formed when two comets collided, and furthermore that such a collision even at quite high speeds would have left the constituent parts largely unaltered (no large rise in temperatures or pressures). This is important because it means that whenever Churyumov-Gerasimenko actually took its current shape, we can still draw conclusions about primordial material from the origins of the solar system using Rosetta results.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 686709.

This work was supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract number 16.0008-2. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official view of the Swiss Government.